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Prerequisites for BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

Load Balancing is Configured Under CEF

Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) or distributed CEF (dCEF) must be enabled on all participating routers.

Restrictions for BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

Address Family Support

This feature is configured on a per VPN routing and forwarding instance (VRF) basis. This feature can be configured under only the IPv4 VRF address family.

Memory Consumption Restriction

Each BGP multipath routing table entry will use additional memory. We recommend that you do not use this feature on a router with a low amount of available memory and especially if router is carries full Internet routing tables.

Route Reflector Limitation

When multiple iBGP paths installed in a routing table, a route reflector will advertise only one paths (next hop). If a router is behind a route reflector, all routers that are connected to multihomed sites will not be advertised unless a different route distinguisher is configured for each VRF.

Information About BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

Multipath Load Sharing Between eBGP and iBGP

A BGP routing process will install a single path as the best path in the routing information base (RIB) by default. The maximum-paths command allows you to configure BGP to install multiple paths in the RIB for multipath load sharing. BGP uses the best path algorithm to still select a single multipath as the best path and advertise the best path to BGP peers.

Note The number of paths of multipaths that can be configured is documented on the maximum-paths command reference page.

Load balancing over the multipaths is performed by CEF. CEF load balancing is configured on a per-packet round robin or on a per session (source and destination pair) basis. For information about CEF, refer to the "Cisco Express Forwarding Overview" documentation:

The BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS VPN feature is enabled only under the IPv4 VRF address family configuration mode. When enabled, this feature can perform load balancing on eBGP and/or iBGP paths that are imported into the VRF. The number of multipaths is configured on a per VRF basis. Separate VRF multipath configurations are isolated by unique route distinguisher.

Note The BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS VPN feature operates within the parameters of configured outbound routing policy.

eBGP and iBGP Multipath Load Sharing in a BGP MPLS Network

Figure 1 shows a service provider BGP MPLS network that connects two remote networks to PE router 1 and PE router 2. PE router 1 and PE router 2 are both configured for VPNv4 unicast iBGP peering. Network 2 is a multihomed network that is connected to PE router 1 and PE router 2. Network 2 also has extranet VPN services configured with Network 1. Both Network 1 and Network 2 are configured for eBGP peering with the PE routers.

Figure 1

A Service Provider BGP MPLS Network

PE router 1 can be configured with the BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS VPN feature so that both iBGP and eBGP paths can be selected as multipaths and imported into the VRF of Network 1. The multipaths will be used by CEF to perform load balancing. IP traffic that is sent from Network 2 to PE router 1 and PE router 2 will be sent across the eBGP paths as IP traffic. IP traffic that is sent across the iBGP path will be sent as MPLS traffic, and MPLS traffic that is sent across an eBGP path will be sent as IP traffic. Any prefix that is advertised from Network 2 will be received by PE router 1 through route distinguisher (RD) 21 and RD 22.The advertisement through RD 21 will be carried in IP packets, and the advertisement through RD 22 will be carried in MPLS packets. Both paths can be selected as multipaths for VRF1 and installed into the VRF1 RIB.

eBGP and iBGP Multipath Load Sharing With Route Reflectors

Figure 2 shows a topology that contains three PE routers and a route reflector, all configured for iBGP peering. PE router 2 and PE router 3 each advertise an equal preference eBGP path to PE router 1. By default, the route reflector will choose only one path and advertise PE router 1.

Figure 2

A Topology With a Route Reflector

For all equal preference paths to PE router 1 to be advertised through the route reflector, you must configure each VRF with a different RD. The prefixes received by the route reflector will be recognized differently and advertised to PE router 1.

Benefits of Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP

The BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS VPN feature allows multihomed autonomous systems and PE routers to be configured to distribute traffic across both eBGP and iBGP paths.

How to Configure BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

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Feature Information for BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

Table 1 lists the features in this module and provides links to specific configuration information. Only features that were introduced or modified in Cisco IOS Releases 12.2(1), 12.0(3)S, 12.2(27)SBC, 12.2(33)SRB, 12.2(33)SXH, or later release appear in the table.

Not all commands may be available in your Cisco IOS software release. For release information about a specific command, see the command reference documentation.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS software images support a specific software release, feature set, or platform. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Note Table 1 lists only the Cisco IOS software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given Cisco IOS software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that Cisco IOS software release train also support that feature.

Table 1 Feature Information for BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Configuration Information

BGP Multipath Load Sharing for Both eBGP and iBGP in an MPLS-VPN

12.0(24)S12.2(14)S12.2(18)SXE12.2(4)T15.0(1)SCisco IOSXE 3.1.0SG

The BGP Multipath Load Sharing for eBGP and iBGP feature allows you to configure multipath load balancing with both eBGP and iBGP paths in BGP networks that are configured to use MPLS VPNs. This feature provides improved load balancing deployment and service offering capabilities and is useful for multi-homed autonomous systems and PE routers that import both eBGP and iBGP paths from multihomed and stub networks.

The following command was introduced or modified by this feature: maximum-paths eibgp.

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Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.